The Festival of Lights
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ReadOasis Step 3 The sky is filled with fireworks. And the home is bright with the light of candles. Little children are dressed in colorful clothes. Their smiles are wide with the tastes of traditional sweets. And they dance to the beat of Indian music. This is the Festival... Read more
ReadOasis Step 3 (Part 1) Professor Harry Harlow thought that he had created a difficult puzzle. He placed a hinge on a block of wood. A hook held the hinge closed. A pin blocked the movement of the hook. To open the hinge you first had to remove the... Read more
by Caroline H. and Samuel B. HardingRetold by ReadOasis at Step 3 Hades ruled as the god of the Underworld, and he was also a brother of Zeus. But the Greeks did not think of him as bright and beautiful like the other gods. They believed he made the... Read more
ReadOasis Step 5(Part 1) Part 1: How Fire Was Given to Men In those old, old times, there lived two brothers who were not like other men, nor yet like those Mighty Ones who lived upon the mountain top. They were the sons of one of those Titans who... Read more
By James BaldwinReadOasis Step 5 One day an old hen whose name was Cluck-cluck went into the woods with her little chick Tuppen to get some blueberries to eat. But a berry stuck fast in the little one's throat, and he fell upon the ground, choking and gasping. Cluck-cluck,... Read more
By Tek Smith ReadOasis Step 3 The world was waiting in anticipation. It had been three years since the death of Steve Jobs. Jobs was the head of Apple Computer. Under his leadership, Apple released many innovative products, including the iPod, the iPhone, iTunes, and the iPad. These products... Read more
Violent Games and Young Minds
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ReadOasis Step 3 Millions of gamers were waiting for the day. On November 10, 2009, the game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" was released. In the first 24 hours, about 4.7 million copies were sold. And the first day of revenue in the US and UK reached $310... Read more
By Tek Smith ReadOasis Step 4 Ashley was born on March 7, 2027. It's her birthday today, and she is 18 years old. Her birthday present will be a new computer. Her budget is 1,000 dollars, and today (March 7, 2045), this money will buy her a very powerful... Read more
ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 1) El Expolio by El Greco El Greco wanted to be a great artist. (His name means “the Greek.”) Like many Greek artists of his time, El Greco moved to Venice, Italy. Venice was alive with cultural change, achievement, and art during a period of... Read more
The Future of Water (Step 3)
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ReadOasis Step 3 Rajan woke up to the sound of bird calls. He rubbed his eyes, and he heard his mother calling his name. “Rajan! Wake up! We need water for today.” Saying nothing, he got out of bed and got dressed. Then he walked outside, his dark brown... Read more
ReadOasis Step 3 (Part 1) Creative Commons Photo by johnbailey63 It was a cloudy day in summer. The sun's light flickered on the green grass as clouds moved across the sky. The colors of the German countryside danced in the changing light. A cool breeze whispered in the trees.... Read more
Evolution by Natural Selection
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ReadOasis Step 3 Evolution is a process of how living things change over time. Natural selection is the basic mechanism of evolution. It was introduced by Charles Darwin in 1859. He compared natural selection with artificial selection. In artificial selection, humans choose traits for breeding. For example, we can... Read more
Awarding Excellence: The Pulitzer Prize
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ReadOasis Step 3 The Color Purple is a book about a black woman named Celie. The story tells of her life and struggles, as she grew up in the Southern United States during the 1930s. The book was written by Alice Walker. And the movie version was directed by... Read more
By Tom Peters (Creative Commons) ReadOasis Step 4 Does this require more explanation than the Golden Rule (“Do unto others ... ”): Badmouthing competitors diminishes you. Period. “Win” with better product. “Win” with better relationships. “Win” when your industry is prospering and has a good reputation. (Think consultants, ad... Read more
How to Attain Presentation Zen (Step 3)
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By Lyric Smith ReadOasis Step 3 PowerPoint is the most popular presentation software in the world today. Over 400 million copies are in use. But there are drawbacks to PowerPoint. It can cause you to oversimplify, and it can prevent you from empathizing and connecting with people. To give... Read more
The Artful Geisha (Step 3)
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ReadOasis Step 3 Geisha are traditional female entertainers from Japan. They are skilled at various Japanese arts, such as classical music, dancing, and poetry. The word "geisha" comes from (GEI) meaning "art" and (SHA) meaning "person." Thus, in a literal sense, a geisha is an artist. In the modern... Read more
ReadOasis Step 3 Black liquid exploded out of the ground and towards the sky. It was oil—black gold—and it had the power to light up homes. It had the power to run the engine of the American economy. It had the power to make a man very rich. John... Read more
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
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ReadOasis Step 3 We are far into "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" when Albus Dumbledore says, "Dark and difficult times lie ahead." But they lie behind us too. And these dark and difficult times have caught our imagination since the beginning of Harry Potter. But this fourth... Read more
Richard Wagner, Musician
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ReadOasis Step 2 Richard Wagner was born on May 22, 1813. He was a famous German musician and writer. He wrote operas, or "music dramas." Unlike many writers of opera, he wrote the words and music for all his works. Wagner's music is known for being intense, complex, and... Read more
ReadOasis Step 3 Winston is an editor. Every day he works with words. His hands are soft, and he is not strong. He does not do hard physical labor. But his job is challenging and even dangerous. He works for the government of Oceania. Every day, he rewrites history.... Read more